"Instead of wasting time on a bill that only plays to their base, my Republican colleagues need to stop playing games and do the right thing," said Rep. Kind. "Amending the Constitution is not required to get our fiscal house in order. It's time to take a realistic approach when our country is in jeopardy of defaulting on its obligations."

The "Cut, Cap, and Balance Act of 2011" (H.R. 2560) is an attempt to enact the extreme Republican budget resolution passed this spring, which puts an end the Medicare guarantee while continuing to protect tax breaks for powerful special interests and the wealthy. More immediately, H.R. 2560 creates additional obstacles, mandating that the House and the Senate first pass a Constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget, before voting to prevent the government from defaulting on its obligations by the August 2 deadline. It also increases the difficulty to raise revenue, requiring a supermajority to close tax loopholes, once again putting the interests of big oil and Wall Street before the American people.

"We need a bipartisan approach to balancing the budget and we need a long-term solution to our structural budget deficits. To paraphrase Winston Churchill, America will make the right decision but only after all other options are first exhausted. There are a lot of options out there but the right thing to do is to close the tax loopholes that reward companies for sending jobs overseas and do everything we can to bring down rising health care costs to protect Medicare and Medicaid. I'm supportive of the Gang of Six talks in the Senate, which are putting forth a more balanced approach by advocating spending cuts and revenue -- ultimately that's where compromise needs to be made and that's where the right decision lies."